“I HAVE met some really brave and amazing men and women over the past two years. When you see someone turning their life around it really is incredible.”

Emma Durmaz, the manager at the Glade Sexual Assault Referral Centre in Bransford, has seen the centre help hundreds of men, women and children in the two years it has been open.

The centre offers forensic examination, therapeutic intervention and follow up support services to men, women and children who have been raped or sexually assaulted.

In the two years the centre has been open, the Glade — which is a partnership agreement between West Mercia Police and NHS England — has helped 590 people.

The majority of people have been seen at its Worcester base, while others were helped at the Glade centre in Telford.

“Before the centre opened, if you had been raped or sexually assaulted and you needed a forensic examination, it would be done at the police station in an examination suite,” Emma said.

“After this, you could access an Independent Sexual Violence Adviser for support through the legal process if needed, but that was it.

“I previously worked as a forensic examiner with the police and I always used to try to write down for people other services that were available and what other help they could get, but I would always find myself worrying about what would happen to that person after they left the examination suite,” Emma said.

“But now that the Glade is open, we offer forensic examination in as nice an atmosphere as we can possibly make it. Not only do we offer that, but we also offer counselling support afterwards and follow up with the client to make sure they are okay. There is always someone here that they can talk to.

“We can also provide them with emergency contraception and medication to prevent HIV or Hepatitis B.”

For someone who has been raped or sexually assaulted, the thought of having to have a forensic examination afterwards can be terrifying.

But the Glade makes the experience as easy as possible.

“There are two routes that can lead a person here for an examination,” Emma explained.

“They will either come here with the police after having reported a rape or sexual assault, but the officer will not watch the examination.

“Or the person will come to us themselves. Forensic evidence is collected so that it can be used to help police with their investigations and if the case goes to court, but some people are unsure about whether they even want to report to police, let alone go through a court case. We also have the facilities to deal with this.”

The period of time a client can visit the centre depends on the nature of the assault.

Emma said: “If the client comes here, we can actually freeze the evidence for an indefinite amount of time to give them time to consider whether they want to go to the police.

“We used to only be able to keep evidence for seven years, but following the Operation Yewtree police investigation in to sexual abuse, we are now able to store indefinitely.”

The Glade is situated in a relatively quiet area, and when one walks through the doors of the centre there is no sense of an oppressive atmosphere.

Paintings of flowers hang on the walls and everywhere is clean and tidy.

There is a kitchen where, tea, coffee, biscuits and all manner of comfort food can be served, and attached to the forensic examination suite is a bathroom.

“After the exam, the client can go straight in to the shower and I tell them to stay in the shower for as long as they want to. We’ll give them a cosy dressing gown and fluffy towels and then they can go and sit in a room on a comfortable sofa and watch a film or read a magazine and just try to relax,” Emma added.

Of course, it isn’t only men and women who use the centre.

Thirty-six per cent of the Glade’s clients over the past year were under the age of 17.

A comfortable room with a sofa, films, magazines and a Nintendo Wii console provides an area of respite for teenagers, while a charming children’s room, featuring toys and friendly pictures painted on the walls is a haven for children who use the service.

“The centre has two counsellors who can initially offer up to 12 sessions,” Emma said.

“Stephen and Sarah do amazing work with people. It’s wonderful when you see a difference in a person after they have been for counselling.

“It could be that you see a smile on their face or they make eye contact when once they couldn’t. It’s such a vital service.

Emma said: “When people come here I think they just feel more empowered to be listened to and most importantly, to know they are believed.

“Anyone who has been raped will usually feel guilty and think “what did I do?” or “why me?” or “why did I drink that much?” or “why did I invite him in for a cup of tea?”.

“But we want them to realise that rape is never their fault, under any circumstance. If we always expected the worst to happen to us we would never leave the house. No one expects to be raped no matter what.”

But this can be a message that is hard to get across to people.

“No one wants to talk about sexual violence. If I went in to town with a tin collecting for children with cancer, I would probably fill that in an hour. But if I went out collection for children who had been raped, people wouldn’t come near me, it’s just too much. We need to realise that it needs to be talked about and that resources need to be put in to it.”

The Glade can be contacted by calling 0808 178 2058 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

You can also email the Glade at info@theglade.org.uk or visit theglade.org.uk l The 16 Days of Action, which includes the White Ribbon Campaign, is currently running until December 10. Visit whiteribboncampaign.co.uk/worcestershire to pledge to never support or condone domestic abuse or sexual violence.